New Computer Game to Help People with Visual Impairments

New Computer Game to Help People with Visual Impairments

A team of researchers at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, has developed new electronic games that help patients get rid of vision problems.

The innovative computer game, dubbed "Gözcü” (spotter), does not require the use of hands, but is managed by eye movement.

Kursat Cagıltay, a computer professor at Middle East Technical University of Ankara, said in a statement about the new innovation, that the project aims to improve the sight of people with partial visual impairments.

He added that the innovative games offer the eye the required exercises by tracking what is happening inside the game and controlling its elements with the eye movement.

"It is known that eye exercises are usually practiced by using beads, threads or colored objects, under the supervision of a specialist, but these traditional methods have no positive results in most cases, especially in young people with visual impairment. But, the new games give better results, because the patient has to follow the game while sitting in front of the computer screen, and thus move his eyes in all directions,” said Cagıltay.

The team behind the games was able to achieve good results during the pilot phase, which involved a child with strabismus, he explained.